A lil of what happened in between
by desoldeben
Summary: This is making reference to TBA by LeFay Strent and has quite a lot of AU content. Do not read if not interested.
1. An outside story

If there was one thing Thane hated more than anything else, it was paperwork. The hatred seemed to be an occupational hazard, since majority of his colleagues seemed to share it as well. There was something about those stacks of paper that just rubbed him the wrong way. Perhaps it was the fact that most of these were rather pointless; or perhaps it was the fact that they were so darn dull. However, if he was to put his finger on the matter, it was because there was so _**damn **_a lot of it.

However, in his line of work, paperwork was a necessary evil. Thane gritted his teeth and diligently plowed his way through the three feet pile that occupied the space on his desk. _By the Emperor, I wish I was on the field._ He had been doing paperwork for five weeks, three days, fourteen hours, thirty minutes and sixteen seconds now. There had to be a mission for him soon, right?

At that moment, the phone on his table began to ring as if it had read his mind. In his joy, Thane dashed to the phone; office phone calls usually meant a mission commissioner had some on-field task for the worker.

"Messenger Thane on line. How may I be of service?" He tried to keep the glee from his voice as much as he can, although it was not that successful.

"Hello, Thane." _Shit. _The voice was that of Director Maria, the supreme boss of his line of work.

"Good day, Director Maria. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Cut the formalities, wisecrack. I want you in my office five minutes ago," and then the line went dead. She was also his cousin, meaning that she could abuse him as much as she wanted without him being able to sue her. _Well, this is going to suck._

Knowing his cousin's impatient temper, Thane got up to make his way to her office. Before he left the room, his gaze returned to the pile of paperwork. For a split second, he actually wished he could just be doing the paperwork. Shaking the wistful thought away, he exited his office.

* * *

As always, the office was comfortable and relaxing. However, he knew the danger of letting the environment lull him into false sense of security. Sitting up to distance himself from the temptingly soft sofa, he cut straight into chase.

"What's the issue, Maria?"

A file flew and landed in front of him. "That's Director Maria to you, Thane."

"Only if you address me as Messenger Thane," he shot back. His cousin scowled, but dropped the issue; for some odd reason, she hated calling him that. Smirking slightly at his tiny victory, Thane began to skim through the document.

**Mission Details**

**Messenger Assigned: Thane Labyrinth**

**Name: Taylor Breayn Riley**

**Current Situation Report: Taylor Breayn Riley – from hereafter referred to as 'unaccounted' – is a young woman native to Earth-005 who had somehow managed to traverse to Earth-027 and died within it. The decease of the unaccounted had been verified by multiple intelligence agents in Earth-027. However, according to the Department for Crossing of Souls, her soul is yet to be accounted for. Senior Messenger Thane Labyrinth is to go on the field, assess the situation and bring the unaccounted over if possible. His assessment of the situation should focus primarily on suitability of deployment of Grim Reapers for acquisition of the unaccounted but should also cover… **_yada yada yada._ He had done similar missions before; there were always some souls lost and unable to find their own ways into the Netherworld. He skipped to the addendum.

**Facts of Interest: **

**Earth-005**

**Dominant Magic: Science**

**Earth-005 is currently regarded as a typical type of science based world that rarely poses problems to the operations of Administrative Ministry of Netherworld. However, before dissemination of science as its dominant magic, the world had multiple magics competing each other for dominance. Therefore, messengers dispatched should not limit themselves to expecting only science-based crises if Earth-005 is involved.**

**Earth-027**

**Dominant Magic: Alchemy**

**Earth-027 is one of the worlds blacklisted for causing many complications to the operations of Administrative Ministry of Netherworld. There had been multiple cases of existential knowledge breach and Grim Reapers had to be deployed majority of such times to ensure elimination of those who learned of Administrative Ministry of Netherworld's existence. As of today, a select few are allowed to live with this knowledge and are only under close watch, since elimination of these entities would have had significant effect onto the world itself.**

Thane groaned and shut the file. He hated alchemy-based worlds. They created so much unnecessary problems.

"Skipping details, are we?" Director's voice displayed her disapproval.

"I'll read the boring bits later. Wouldn't want to take your precious time, Director."

"Tsk. This will not be an easy mission, Thane."

Thane brushed aside her concern. "Relax, Maria. You know me; one of the AMN's finest Messengers. If a situation has no need for a Reaper, I can definitely solve it." His tone was not one of arrogance; he was merely stating a fact.

"Hmm. Tell me, Thane. What do you know of the entity known as Truth in Earth-027?"

The name sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place the name to a face. "I might have heard of him but it's escaping me at the moment."

Maria sighed and waved him away, "Just go. You better not screw this up."

"Yes, ma'am." He got up promptly, eager to get to the field. However, before he left, he thought to take a peek at what the Ministry's database had to say of this 'Truth' guy. He was not very fond of getting unpleasant surprises.

* * *

_That is one big gate. _Thane had to tilt his head a lot just to see the top of the door. Feeling quite impressed, he pushed one of the doors open. The room inside was an endless stretch of white, just as the database had informed him. However, he did not know what else to expect, since the database did not have anything about the entity except the white room and his somewhat 'unique' appearance. There were many speculations about his capability, but Thane took those with a pinch of salt. There is a saying among the messengers; 'A fact from an intelligence agent is as concrete as the foundation of the world. A speculation from an intelligence agent is a mythology unto itself.'

"Hello there, Messenger." The white figure of a man greeted him.

"Good day, Mr?"

"You know my name already." Thane wondered how his smile could be visible despite the being's apparent lack of form.

"Very well, Mr. Truth. I am Messenger Thane. May I assume you are aware of my purpose for this visit?"

"No, not at all." They both knew he was lying.

_Alright, two can play this game._ "Have you, by any chance, detained a soul from entering the Netherworld after her body has died?"

The grin stayed on the face. "I can't say I recall anyone dying around here, Messenger Thane. Most of the time when a soul comes through here, it is simply separated from its body."

Inwardly, Thane grimaced. When he had learned from the Mission Details that Earth-027's dominant magic was alchemy, he did suspect a case of soul-body separation. When a person's soul is torn from the body, the person is essentially dead. However, with alchemy involved, a soul-body separation is not considered death since they can be reattached. There had been many similar cases from other alchemy-based worlds and these situations had almost always produced tons of paperwork. _At least with necromancy, Grim Reapers could just go in, kill everything and resolve the situation. Ugh. Why did it have to be alchemy?_

Still, he had one last card in his diplomatic hand. "However, if the soul in question was not native of an alchemy-based world, a separation of the body and the soul is in fact a death." Since Earth-005 was a science-based world, reattachment of a body and a soul was beyond their capability. Therefore, if Taylor Riley's body and soul had indeed been separated, she was essentially dead to the records.

Thane saw the grin of Truth's face falter a little. It seemed that the entity had forgotten that particular detail. Truth quickly recomposed his expression. "Of course, Messenger. What you say is correct. However, I fail to see its relevance to the discussion." He frowned slightly as Truth decided to take the denial-of-charges-accused attitude. That usually meant he had to confront him with evidence before obtaining any further cooperation.

Thane thought of his options carefully. "So you are saying there are no souls from other worlds?"

"Absolutely not." His answer was natural, although Thane knew it to be a lie.

"If that is the case, you won't mind if I looked around a little, would you?" His gaze turned to the gate at the backdrop.

"Go right ahead." Truth's grin seemed to have gotten wider.

He approached the gate and swung it open. Immediately, many hand-shaped tendrils seemingly made of shadow shot out, trying to drag him in. However, upon contact, each of the arms disintegrated. The gate's magic was strong but not enough to overcome his magical resistance. After a few attempts, the arms ceased their attempts, although they still surrounded him. Gathering his courage, he stepped in.

"Happy sightseeing." Truth's voice was heard. Thane could just imagine the entity's grinning face.

* * *

If the room he had entered from was an endless stretch of light, this was the exact opposite.

Darkness was everywhere. It extended, multiplied and stretched itself around him and yet did not blind him. He could see in the darkness, perhaps a bit disoriented but still able to get his bearings. He saw images, not with his eyes, but with his mind. He did not just see those with his eyes. He heard them, felt them and experienced them. They taught him things he knew, did not know and have never even considered. He felt elucidated and muddled at the same time.

_Whatever this is, it is not safe for many. The weak will lose their mind._

With a grunt, he intensified his magical resistance. Instantly, the flow of information decreased, at the rate he dictated it. While the magic was chaotic in its abundance, it was not overwhelming to someone of his magical caliber.

He also focused his senses. All messengers were sensitive to presence of wandering souls; it was the first criteria they were checked for when considered for employment under the AMN. _What in the? _He dulled his senses immediately. There were too many lost souls here. He would have collapsed to his knees had he been under the influence of gravity. The sensory overload was shocking in its magnitude. With a frustrated sigh, Thane conceded to the fact that to find one girl's soul in this mess was nigh impossible.

* * *

"Had a good trip?" The tone was almost mocking.

"You have a beautiful sense of interior design, Mr. Truth."

"Glad to hear it appreciated."

Slowly, Thane picked himself off the floor. He still felt a bit weak but no plans to let it show to the entity before him.

"Did you get your hands on what you were looking for?" Yup. He was definitely mocking.

Thane's irritation bubbled to show on the surface and he quickly quelled the emotion. "No. It appears that I could not."

"I see."

"It looks as if I have wasted your time, Mr. Truth. I apologise." He was running options in his head. Obtainment of Taylor Riley would have to be through force. _Looks like I will have to recommend Reapers for this one. Damn. Director is not going to be happy. _Reapers cost a lot to be deployed. They required a lot magic to be reach the other dimensions, which meant very high utility bills for the Ministry. That is why Messengers were always sent first to resolve any issue.

"It's alright, Messenger. You are just devoted to your duty. It just turned out to be fiasco." Truth knew how to select his parting words.

"Yes. I guess it had. Farewell." Thane left.

* * *

He stared at his phone, just as he had done for the last twenty minutes. While he knew he had to report, that did not mean he was keen. He knew Maria would be extremely displeased about his performance and when she was displeased, people tended to die, figuratively. Literally, they were just buried under paperwork to the extent they could just use it as a grave. Thane was not at all fond of paperwork.

As he opened his phone for the twenty-seventh time, it suddenly began to ring. His first immediate reaction was to believe that somehow Maria gained omniscience, became aware of his failure and had taken the initiative to announce his demise. He almost tossed his phone in terror but at the last moment, rationality took over his panicked mind. He took a glimpse at the caller ID and saw it was from Atlas. He received the call as soon as his hand stopped shaking.

"Hey, Atlas. What's up?"

"Thane. Got some shit brewing up here at work. Can come over?" Atlas worked in DDD, which stood for Department for Dimensional Detachment; a department that kept the worlds from interacting with each other. It was not possible to completely stop cross-dimension interaction; there were just too many to stop them all. However, the DDD made sure that all major interactions are prevented.

Wariness coursing through him, Thane's first thought was to refuse. However, angry Atlas was not a happy Atlas, and all other forms of Atlas other than happy tended to be dangerous. "Ugh, Atlas. I'm beat. I hope it's something easy. If it's serious, get someone else."

"No man, I just need an advice. I have a situation here in Earth-005. Just come over, take a peek and tell me what I should do, yeah?" At mention of Earth-005, it caught his interest.

"Right. Nothing more than that."

"Thanks man, you are a real pal."

"Sure, sure. If I'm a real pal, pay me back the money you owe…" _Click._ The line went dead immediately. "…me."

Shaking his head, Thane made his way to Atlas's work station.

* * *

"So this girl is trying to make a link to another world?" The file said the girl's name: Circe LeFay Strent.

"Yeah, man. She's complete shit at it but not absolutely useless. There had been a few successful attempts. It's costing us more magic now than the amount we had to spend for the last few years combined from this world." Whenever a magic from a world attempted to connect to another, DDD would use a counter-dose of magic to foil the attempt. Any successful cross-world connection was done by those skilled enough to hide their attempts. This girl clearly was grasping at straws and all she was doing was causing the Ministry higher bills.

"So what's the issue? Just keep blocking her."

"You see. There's an issue. The girl is using alchemy. However, the magic of her world is…"

"Science." Thane muttered in disbelief.

"Hey, yeah! How did you know?"

"Which world is she linking to?" Thane's thought raced at this new development. _It's too opportune a timing to be a coincidence._

Atlas looked at his friend and knew his own questions will have to wait. He quickly grabbed his report and searched for the information. "Let's see now. Ah, here it is. The world she is linking to is… another version of Earth. It's Earth-027."

With his suspicion confirmed, Thane took the file and looked at information regarding the girl. Under the list of acquaintances, he found the name he was searching for: **Taylor Breayn Riley (Close friend)**. _Very interesting turn of events._ An idea began popping into his head.

"Say, Atlas. You said she is still trying to get to Earth-027?" There was a tone of excitement in his voice now.

"Yeah. This time, she may use somebody else's blood to create the bridge. From the reports, the owner of the blood will trigger an even stronger link. It's going to cost us a lot of magic and you know how much Director hates increase in the bills." Thane nodded sympathetically, although he was barely listening to the ramble.

"Well then, my friend. The answer is simple; let her get to Earth-027."

Atlas had not been expecting this. "You nuts? DAMN is so going to kill me if I let that happen."

"The Director of Administrative Ministry of Netherworld will not kill you, my friend. In fact, the DAMN will commend you for your good decision and even give you remuneration."

"What's you talking about?" Atlas saw that Thane had the 'grin'. Thane with the 'grin' meant someone else was about to be really miserable.

"You see, Ms. Strent is trying to get to Earth-027 to look for a friend of hers. However, the soul of her friend is in the hands of this entirely unpleasant character that goes by the name of 'Truth'. I've recently requested nicely to the entity to hand over the soul but he had declined, meaning only course of action the Ministry can take to obtain the soul is through deployment of the Grim Reapers."

"Oh." No matter how much a prevention of connection between worlds cost, deployment of Reapers required much, much more magic.

"If it only takes sending over a single person for us to save ourselves using the Reapers, it is a price I'm willing to take." Thane was rubbing his hands; another telltale sign that somebody was about to be extremely unhappy. Atlas felt sorry for this 'Truth' fellow.

"Well, if you say so. But I'm only letting the girl go through, alright? And I am not taking responsibility if this somehow blows up in our face."

"Please, Atlas. It's just a single girl. What could she possibly do that the Ministry can't handle?"

"So you say. Remember Atlantis?"

"Ugh. Why are you even bringing that up?"

"It happened in Earth-005, man. The people of that world have a knack for causing headaches."

"It was from here?" Thane remembered the Sink of Atlantis all too well. It had caused more paperwork than the next few crises combined. Suddenly, he felt uneasy. _Relax, Thane. It's just one girl._ "Atlas, Atlantis was millenniums ago. Don't be so hung up on the past."

"Whatever, man. It's your responsibility."

And so the die was cast.

* * *

The message from Atlas came that evening.

**It's done, man. The girl is now on her way to Earth-027. On your head be it.**

Thane rubbed his hands in anticipation.

_Ah, how I love my job._

He focused his magic and opened a portal to Earth-027.

_Let's see how things go from here, shall we?_

He stepped through.


	2. Holiday to Lior: Part 1

**Disclaimer: Nada yada pada mada. Translated into English, it means desoldeben does not own what is rightfully not his. Like FMA. Or Lior. Or all other things applicable.**

**Hi there. Howdy. It's been a long time. The funny thing abt writing longer pieces is that I forget parts of the same chpt if I do not focus. And focus and I are not on speaking terms. Havn't been for a loooooooooooong time.**

* * *

'So you are telling me, they've gone to Earth-005?' Thane tried not to raise his voice in frustration. If the innkeeper downstairs heard him, considering that handphone was not invented in Earth-027, he would give the man an impression that he was speaking to himself.

'Sure as my name is Atlas; it happened during my shift, which produced a lot of paperwork for me, by the way.' Unhappiness could be heard in his friend's voice, although the reason behind the displeasure differed from that of Thane's.

'Shawl of shadows, Atlas, why didn't you stop them?'

'Hey, this transfer was nothing like that LeFay girl's, I tell you. It was well disguised and executed. I don't think we could have stopped it even if we were warned beforehand, not unless Janus was the one in charge.' Janus was the Director Head for the Department for Dimensional Detachment.

'Hmm,' with the initial frustration past, Thane reassessed the situation. 'Hey, Atlas. Can you pass my message?'

Atlas knew a refusal was not going to work. 'Yeah, kay. To whom and about what?'

'Tell Alice to keep track of that merry band in Earth-005 for me.' Atlas could catch a hint of glee in the message.

'Your secretary? Why don't you tell her yourself?'

'Atlas, my dear friend. I would love to. But at the moment I have to be somewhere urgently. You know how work leaves me no moment of peace.' Atlas knew Thane enough to know his friend was feeding him crap but decided contacting Alice was simpler than trying to squeeze the truth out of his friend.

'Yeah, whatever.'

Just before the conversation ended, Atlas heard Thane whispering, 'best of luck.' Perplexed, he punched in Alice's number to deliver the message.

Thane's last words only made themselves clear when Atlas found himself having to apologize to the secretary for prematurely ending her vacation.

* * *

Thane was not very fond of many things, enough to form a list. Paperwork was one such thing. Bad odor was another. Crappy food was another as well. Currently, he found himself in presence of two of those three things as he ate his meal served by the train staff in the company of a heavily perfumed lady. As the woman droned on about her exceedingly prosaic life, he decided to add witless chatter to the list as well.

'What of you, handsome chap? What coaxed you to take this train? Where will you be at the end of this journey?'

It took Thane a moment to comprehend that, to his horror, the woman expected a reply. He spoke in a crisp yet polite way, hoping his aloofness will deter further conversational attempts. 'Lior. I have some personal interest there.'

His hope did not come to be. 'Ah, Lior! Excellent choice for a man of definite learning and high standing such as yourself! To engage in the knowledgeable sermons of Letoism, I presume? Such a religion! I myself do not proclaim to be a person of exceptional piety, you understand. I cannot claim to have adulation for Leto. But the culture the religion has brought up! The ideas! The morals! Letoism has a lot to teach to all, even those who speaks the word "God" with a skepticism. It has taught all, even the common and deprived, to have no fear of death, for death is nothing to followers of Leto!' Thane flinched with irritation at the last comment. Oblivious to her companion's reaction, the woman continued, 'with such beliefs, men dare – dare, I say – to go beyond the threshold they would otherwise have avoided in fear of death! Lior prospers more than ever before, faster than its rivals!'

Thane would admit to himself, although never loud, that the woman was helpful. Now he had a rough idea about what was going on in his destination.

'And of course! Founder Cornello! The epitome of wisdom and enlightenment. The avatar of Leto's love for his subjects. I had the honor to converse with the man once. He removed any scorn I once had for the religious with his elucidating insights.' The mention of Cornello sparked some interest in him.

'Really, madam? A private conversation with Founder himself?'

Upon receiving a reaction from her previously impassive audience, the woman offered information in an excited frenzy.

'Ah yes! Founder Cornello with his miracles! I've seen it myself, you see. As he invoked the power bestowed upon him by glorious Leto, the dying flower once more bloomed! Some say it is but alchemy. However, they speak without assistances of their brains. Those miracles do not follow the strict laws of alchemy and alchemy is nothing without its dictatorial laws. You will see what I mean upon seeing it yourself.' _So the Brigadier General wasn't feeding me bullshit._

Thane has traveled into many worlds, seen many different types of magic. Rarely were there worlds that somehow offered their people a way to bend its magical laws. Such things had always piqued his interests, and this time was no exception.

* * *

Thane, being a gregarious and charming messenger, has many non-political friends. One of such friend had, once upon a time, offered him – without resistance or reluctance – advice on how to collect information about surroundings from scratch. Such a dear friend he was.

His advice was simply that if you had no idea where to start, go to a common place with food. Everyone had to eat, after all.

And that was why Thane was currently sitting in a small café, enjoying his drink and listening to the radio broadcast coming from the radio somewhere above him. Looking at him, one would see a well-off man who is at peace with the world, oblivious to his surroundings and immersed in the flavor of liquid joy he was currently consuming.

He was anything but. He was aware of his surroundings, keeping tabs on everyone in his notice. Also, the tea was horrible.

It is important to note, however, that while Thane kept his senses sharp and paid attention, he was not trained in the labyrinthine art of information gathering and thus was utterly unsuccessful in the endeavor. He could pick up bits of pointless information – such as the 50% discount for all broccolis in the market and abrupt closure of a barber shop called Cattle Hide Smoother since last Tuesday – but nothing he overheard contributed to understanding the magic of Letoism: the magic that was rumored to be capable of reviving the dead.

The rumor was false, of course. Administrative Ministry of Netherworld would have hunted anybody who can bring the dead to life unlicensed. Nobody in Earth-027 had the license. Thane knew this for certain. He decided to conveniently ignore the fact that he knew nobody had the license because he had – being lazy – never approved a single license since the job became his responsibility five hundred years ago.

At the rate his 'intel gathering' was going, Thane knew he wouldn't be able to notice even if the man Cornello declared himself a god, started fabricating commandments and formed a harem of ladies in miniskirt. _Right. I think it's time to approach the situation in a manner I'm good at. _Everyone who knows Thane would agree that he is very good at being unreasonably demanding.

The victim was an appealing brunette girl with white locks at the front who was chatting animatedly with a waiter. Raising his hand, Thane called out, 'excuse me, miss? May I speak with you?'

'Hmm?' The girl showed her confusion at being randomly spoken. Thane, having done this many times throughout his career, bulldozed through her bewilderment.

'I want to learn about the glory of Leto. Where do you advise I start?' Thane noted with amusement at how her face lit up at his words. _Lucky on first try, Thane? Fortuna is being too nice to you._

'I can help you!' – Thane had the grace to fake an expression of being pleasantly surprised at her reply – 'I was just about to head to the parade square where Founder is having a sermon!' The fact that there was a parade-level sermon going on without his knowledge spoke volumes about Thane's information gathering skills, or lack thereof. _And that is why I'm a messenger, not an intel agent._

'Why thank you! I see your heart is just as beautiful as well.' Thane had the pleasure of seeing her blush before following her out of the diner. His experiences have taught him that a little flattery to women always benefited him in the long run. _If it's not broke, don't fix it._

* * *

The parade square was not all that big. Perhaps that was why it was so crammed with people who wished to witness the Founder of Letoism delivering a sermon. Looking around him, Thane could see that all classes of society were present. The more prosperous were at the front, comfortably placing themselves within easy hearing distance of the podium where Cornello would deliver the sermon, while their hired helps kept the less wealthy from crowding into their employers' private space. The poor, those who could barely eat a meal a day, those whose life continued on sufferance of Fate, were hidden in the alleys linked to the square. There was no place for them in the square among their betters.

Thane saw all these and shook his head at the familiar scene. Thane had lived many, many aliases among the living in many worlds. He had noticed that while the worlds separated by dimensions are indeed unique, some recurring trends existed.

The chatters that filled the air of the parade square died away and were replaced by claps as Founder Cornello and his followers made their way to the podium. Cheers and love were given freely. Thane could witness how genuinely these people followed Leto.

A man, accompanied by two others, stood on the podium at last; an entourage stood behind, away from the spotlight. Thane instinctively felt for the man's death. Sensing nothing out of ordinary, he gritted his teeth and he retracted his magical senses. He did not expect much anyway. There were times he wished he could sense something other than deaths from people; perceiving their thoughts or emotions would be more useful for his current situation. _Oh well. There's a reason I am not in reconnaissance or intelligence. _

'That's Founder Cornello.' Rose pointed towards the man, needlessly; Thane had already figured that out on his own. He was more curious about the men behind him. Luckily, Rose's eagerness to introduce a non-believer to Letoism extended to introducing key figures.

'The man to the right of Founder is Brother Jesper. He arrived about a year ago. I've met him a few times but he's a bit quiet type. A bit on the scary side but...' Rose hesitated, as if realizing she was speaking ill of the man in front of a total stranger, reddened and quickly moved onto the next man.

'The man to the left of Founder is Brother Meneshia. He arrived only two months ago but quickly proved himself with his faith and love of Leto.' Thane caught a tone of admiration in her voice. 'I've seen Brother Meneshia take over some sermons during the days Founder needed rest. He's sure to follow his footsteps soon. Oh! Look! It's starting!' Rose pointed to the podium. He could see Cornello and Meneshia performing the 'miracles of Leto' while Jesper simply observed, avoiding the limelight. Thane's own magical awareness told him that indeed magic was happening. However, it coud not tell him whether the magic was alchemy or true blessings of Leto.

'It seems you know them well?' Thane muttered as he watched Meneshia transform a particularly withered branch into a tiara.

Rose replied as she watched as well, 'yes. I've been worshipping Leto for awhile now. I've known Founder before they have. When they arrived, I've been introduced.' There was pride ebbing through as she made the statement.

A train of thought went through him as he reconsidered Rose's previous statement.

'Rose. May I ask why?'

'Hmm?' His question was too vague.

'Why have you become such a devout worshipper of Leto?'

There was a moment of pregnant pause before she said, 'Have you heard of how Leto could revive the dead? My boyfriend died years ago. I know I'm not supposed to expect rewards for worship, but I just can't… Maybe, it could happen one day.' Rose spoke of her lover no further.

Not that she needed to. The moment she thought of her man, Thane knew. He always knew when somebody remembered the dead in his vicinity. Suddenly, he knew everything about Rose's boyfriend. He had not met the man personally. For a simple death by an accident, a lower agent would have handled the death. However, all death was within his jurisdiction to know about. Now, he knew.

'Look, Thane. The sermon is starting.' His eyes met Rose's and he knew for the first time how strong and cheerful the individual before him was making herself to be.

Thane's gaze shifted from the lady before him to the trio of men on the podium. _You were right, Shakespeare. This bloody world is a giant stage and everyone is a bloody actor._

And he knew that he was perhaps the biggest actor in this particular stage.

* * *

Thane spent the sermon relieving the memories of the dead. He did not believe in Letoism. He never heard of the fellow anyway. Sure, he heard the name but the last time he checked, Leto was definitely not related to the sun in any manner. Also, Leto he knew was a she.

It was Rose's voice, back to its jovial tone, that shook him out of reverie. 'Do you want to speak to the Founder?' He considered the option and eventually came to the conclusion that this may be the only chance he would get to ever speak with the man, in the company of Rose.

'Yes. Lead away.' He let himself led by her hand.

The problem about a crowded parade square is that…well…it is crowded. People were flocking towards the man closest to their god like moths drawn to flame. Thane hoped the end results would not be as ghastly.

They pushed through the crowd, half in thanks to his natural tendency to repel those who feared death and the other half in thanks to Rose's eagerness to bring a new member to her faith. All in all, they reached Cornello and his two assistants faster than Thane imagined.

'Founder!' Rose's call was seemingly smothered among those made by the people around her. However, Jesper turned at the last moment, his eyes immediately locking onto the source of the noise. He gave a few words to Cornello by his side and thus the other two turned back. Needless to say, at the sight of their spiritual leaders turning back, the degree of cheering changed from booming to ear-piercing.

Rose, heartened to see her efforts to capture her Founder's attention had not been in vain, penetrated the thick layer of human wall like a sledgehammer through butter. Not the most smooth of transitions, but speedy nonetheless. At the end of the journey, Thane felt crumpled in various parts of his attire and anatomy. It irritated him to see how Rose, who was exchanging some words with Founder Cornello, seemed undisturbed by the ordeal herself.

If left alone, he might have gone on grumbling for another hour or so. Thankfully to any potential mind readers around, he was cut short as Cornello approached him with Rose, Jesper and Meneshia.

'It is joyous to see another discovering the elucidation of Leto,' was his greeting words.

Cornello was every inch the faithful and wise religious leader figure one would expect him to be. His words were calming, his appearance relaxing and his posture radiating the aura of sage wisdom within the man. Thane had seen many religious leaders with such impressions over the ages.

Too bad most of them turned out to be complete frauds though.

'Hello, Founder. I am Thane.'

'So I've heard, my child. Sister Rose has informed me all she knew of you. I hope you do not take offense in her taking liberty of sharing such private details without your permission.' Two thoughts flashed through Thane's head as Cornello spoke. They were _He's calling __**me **__a child? _and _Rose is a nun?_

'None at all, Founder. I have nothing to hide.'

'None has a reason to hide before Leto. He already knows and has already embraced who you are.' Thane seriously doubted that he would have been embraced by a god who was believed to chase death away and return the deceased to life but knew better than to state this particular opinion.

'I am curious about something, Founder.' Thane thought it was a high time he was leading the conversation with some wanton rudeness and audacity. Oh, how he loved his job.

'Inquire, my child.'

Ignoring the child remark – he only gritted his teeth hard enough to crack granite – Thane asked, 'how does Leto raise the dead? It's not that I doubt him,' – he did doubt him – 'it's just that… well… I must admit the idea of the dead rising impossible to envision.'

Cornello's expression showed how often the particular question had been asked. 'In face of light, darkness must fade. As light is Leto, death is nothing to him.'

He expected the answer to be along those lines. He launched his next question. 'Assuming revival can be done; what is wrong is death, Founder?' He felt satisfaction at how Cornello was taken aback by his question. It seemed that nobody had spoken to him without negative connotation of death before. No surprises there.

'Uhm… I beg your pardon?'

'Everything in the world dies, no? The people, the animals, the trees. None is immortal. Are they all wrong to perish? Are they all evil to have stopped breathing? Death is without a mind, without cruel intentions. It is universal, absolute and final. That is all. Are these the traits of evil? I admit death is indeed a sad affair, seeing how dead people are forever lost to the living, but I feel it is extremely judgmental to simply write off death as evil.'

A pregnant silence ensued. Jesper coughed once.

'I… must say you bring a very interesting point.' Thane could see Cornello's calm demeanor slightly fray. However, the signs were so subtle that Thane doubted others saw what he saw. He also noticed how his questions made Rose upset, but she stayed out of the conversation because of her respect for the Founder.

Meneshia, however, had no such reservations. 'Interesting as it may be, but I do not think the man's point is valid, Founder.' The man's voice was deeper than one might have expected. It had a quality of timber that a listener would find charming. Thane could see he was apparently aware of it because Meneshia's behavior carried many telltale signs of a man very used to performing on stage.

'Why is that?' Thane asked.

'Evil may not be the proper term for death, but fact remains that death is undesirable. It is simply a waste. We have no reason to accept death if it was not inevitable. However, if Leto can grant life everlasting, why should anyone reject it? In my opinion, death is not something to avoid because it is evil; we should avoid it because it is pointless.'

Agitation rose as he heard Meneshia call death 'pointless'. He grinned.

'Hmm. Death is pointless, huh? Tell me Meneshia. What happens after you die?'

'I'm sorry?'

'Do you know what happens when somebody dies?'

Meneshia was trying hard to not show being flustered but failed. 'I… They are dead?'

Thane snickered. 'Very observant, Brother Meneshia; they are dead. It seems you call death pointless while being completely ignorant of its nature.' He did not continue, thinking it would be wasting time to be doing so.

'Does it matter, what happens after a person dies?' Jesper interjected.

Quickly adapting to having another speaker in the argument, Thane replied, 'I would very much think so. Does the person go to a better place? Do the evil people get rightful judgment this world could not provide? Does he simply disappear, ceasing to exist? Does he go to the side of Leto, instead of being stuck here because the world of living is more dear to him? I think these questions are very important.'

'Well, I do not. While I do not agree to Brother's point that death is pointless, I also do not understand your insistence on death's importance. We are living, so we focus on being alive. Should we think of tomorrow's dinner as we consume today's? Why? We should be focusing on how delicious what we are eating is,' Jesper turned his gaze to Meneshia. 'On the same note, we should not focus on trying to make today's dinner to last forever. If tomorrow's dinner is to come, let it come,' he returned his focus on Thane. 'Leto is like the chef in this analogy. He decides for us whether tomorrow's dinner will be different from today's, or whether it will be the same menu. Either of his choice is not wrong. Likewise, if Leto were to give us options regarding death instead of making only one option mandatory, would you say it is wrong of him? Death is painful to many of us. Is Leto wrong to alleviate some of these pains?'

'But it is not fair if some gets their dead revived while others lose theirs forever.'

Jesper chuckled at that, 'Mr. Thane, the price of every death is not the same. To expect alleviation of the said price to be fair is foolishness.'

Thane considered Jesper's answer. He decided he liked it. 'I'll remember your words.' He gave a curt nod to the man conceding his defeat before turning to Cornello. 'If I wanted to hear more of such wisdom, where can I go to?'

Cornello, satisfied that one of his assistant have put the upstart man in his place, had returned to his gentle demeanor. 'At end of each week, those who seek to learn more about Leto and pay homage to Him gather in the church to truly embrace His intentions.' Thane figured that roughly translated to: the rich and powerful have special gatherings on Sundays in church to mingle among each other, away from the poor.

'Excellent, Founder. I will ask Sister Rose about its details.' Rose, who still seemed upset about the debate he started, was still by his side instead of having abandoned him. Thane was grateful of her politeness.

The trio of clergymen knew the conversation was over and turned away. However, Meneshia shot him a glare as he walked; it seemed Rose was not the only one Thane had offended. They were about to turn a corner and vanish from sight when a shout resonated through the air.

'CORNELLO!' It was loud, clear, distinct and obviously feminine.

Everyone froze.

Thane coughed once. While he may occasionally – in situations most deserving – show disregard towards authorities, even he did not shout their leaders' names in public without their proper titles, as if he was calling for his upstairs neighbors.

A young woman with hairs like flames was the only figure moving in the whole parade square. Apparently unfazed by the scene she had just caused, she marched towards the Founder of Letoism. It was only when she almost reached the Founder that the freezing spell that held the entire crowd broke. Realizing the imminent danger, Thane pulled Rose and dashed into the circle of guards that was forming around Cornello. They made it just in time. Right behind him, a human stampede was forming as devout Leto worshippers tried to reach the rude – rude being the understatement of the day – lady and dish out her just dessert.

The said rude lady was currently in hands of two guards, being restrained. Curiosity piqued, Thane made his way towards her, Rose following closely behind.

'Who is she?' Her words contained equal amounts of anger, curiosity and confusion.

'No clue, but I don't think she's a nun.' Rose picked up Thane's implicit question in his words and blushed.

'It's nothing special. I wasn't hiding it on purpose. I've only recently become a Sister, so I am just not used to it,' she then realized she was defending herself from him, and promptly added. 'By the way, I'm still mad at you.' She stomped ahead of him towards her Founder. It was an effort to contain his laughter but Thane managed.

The red-haired girl was still struggling and yelling when he reached her. The difference now was that Thane could actually make out her words against the backdrop of crowds demanding her execution, immolation, crucifixion, decapitation and… _did I hear defenestration? Holy shit, I haven't heard that word in years! _A wave of nostalgia hit him and he needed to shake his head to dispel it.

'I know you have my brother! Give him to me!' The girl was yelling.

'Please be reasonable, young lady. I do not know who your brother is, nor do I have any reason to be in possession of him.' Cornello's smooth tone was very much frayed. Thane believed even others could hear the Founder's agitation at the moment.

'Don't lie to me, you scheming pile of bones! I know Alex went out to dig dirt off your organization the night he went missing! If you do not return him to me, I swear I'll reveal your dirty secret to everyone here!' She snarled, hysteric.

Thane watched intently, smirking at the scene before him.

Cornello would have lost his fatherly image had it not been for Jesper, whose outburst of rage managed to precede the Founder's. 'I know not who you are, nor really care for it! But if you are accusing the Founder of abduction, I suggest you leave immediately before you really make someone commit a sin!' Thane raised his eyebrow; Jesper was not even being subtle about his threat.

Before she could retort, Meneshia motioned his hands to the guards to take her away. Guards immediately acted, as if they had been waiting for the signal. Her incoherent screams followed her exit. Only then did silence return to the parade square. Founder smoothened his robe, with a bit more force than necessary, turned and walked away. Jesper, still seething with fury, marched off behind him. Meneshia and the rest of the guards followed.

Thane did not even wait to see them gone. Grabbing hold of Rose's arm, he whispered, 'follow me.' Still startled by the outrageous girl, Rose did not object to being led off. The pair disappeared from the square as discussions and slander of the girl began to form among the crowd.

* * *

**AN: Ah. Did you know that this is part 1? Part 2 is done alrdy. I've just started on part 3. To be honest, when I first started this little work, I hoped to squeeze everything into 1 chpt. shows u just how smart (or not) I am. I'm still working on the satisfying ending. **

**I rly think long stories are tiring.**

**As usual, I love reviews. (which I got thx to being known to LeFay) Flames are also accepted but dun expect love back neither. I'm petty that way.**

**tada. desoldeben out.**


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